how to make your next game go big | emmanuel carraud
TRANSCRIPT
Who are we?Mobile App Experts since 2008
Spin-out of Cambridge University
iOS & Android app developers, publishers and promoters since 2008
3 brands: MagicSolver, Blue Panda Apps, AppChocolate
Who are we?Mobile App Experts since 2008
MagicSolver: app discovery specialist Free App Magic: free apps every day Apps for Halloween, Valentine’s day,
Christmas, Football World Cup
#1 App Store in 50 countries 500 developers partners 40 million downloads for our apps and 50
millions for our partners
Who are we?Mobile App Experts since 2008
Blue Panda Apps: entertainment and games Christmas Booth: festive photo fun Quote of the day: inspirational quotes Magic Mania
Who are we?Mobile App Experts since 2008
AppChocolate: festive mobile app studio Advent Calendar: 25 Days to Christmas
Better than chocolate! Selection of the best 25 games every year in December
Partnership with 25 game publishers/developers every year
#1 App Store in 30 countries Over 10 million downloads since 2014
1. Know your audience
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Who is your audience? Know your audience (Facebook audience, Flurry,
reviews) Age group, sex, interest, type of apps, country,
languageFaceShift: photo app,
strong in Japan, viral,
teenager
Quote of the Day:
inspirational quotes, 75%
female, Europe, 25-45
Euro Football: football
news, 75% male, Europe,
25-45
Xmas Booth: photo app,
strong in US, Europe,
seasonal, family
2. Find your voice
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Speak to the heart of your user Speak his/her language Choose the right tone: “Vous”
vs. “Tu”, politeness level Use context to make it easier
to understand: app description, screenshot, tutorial
3. Benchmark your competitors and improve
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Learn from your competitors: Magic Mania Test their apps, read their user reviews Avoid their mistakes and improve on the great ideas
4. Understand differences between iOS and Android
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Different Demographic & Country split Korea, China, emerging countries vs. US, UK, Japan
Ranking algorithm is different iOS: ranking per country, short term downloads,
review process, price drops. Android: longer algorithm, installed user base,
third-party app store influence Strategy needs to be adapted (SEO, monetisation,
translation, user acquisition techniques, partnership)
VS
5. Translate to multiple languages to improve your ASO (App Store Optimisation)
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A quick win is to translate titles & keywords in all main languages: +30% to +100% increase
Adapt & translate screenshots Translating the app itself will increase retention
6. Have a clear monetisation strategy
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It varies by type of app and target audience Observe best practices: copy or disrupt!
IAPs vs. paid app Advertising: different ad formats Incentivized video, reward ads Sponsorship Subscription iOS vs. Android
7. Measure KPIs
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Acquisition:
Downloads (with attribution)
Activation rate (% app launches > 85%)
CPI: Cost Per Install (paid installs & organic)
Engagement:
Retention (3-day/7-day retention rate, DAU, MAU,
uninstalls/drop-offs)
Engagement – track events within your app (tutorial,
sharing, milestones)
Segment users by device and OS, by geo, and by
type of user
Outcomes:
Conversion rate – track events (sign-ups, IAP sales,
“completed level 2”, sharing, etc.)
ARPU: Average Revenue Per User.
ROI on your user acquisition spend
LTV: Life Time Value of a customer
8. Test the water before burning your cash
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Test beta version extensively Friends and family Multiple devices/languages Test with outsiders
Market test Launch in 1 or 2 small geos Iterate and improve the user experience
Test several user acquisition channels Don’t burn too much cash before
knowing your KPIs (retention, ARPU)
9. Analyse and iterate to improve your metrics
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Read and answer your user reviews Listen to both positive and negative ones
Reduce the pain/drop-off points Increase the wow factor
Each update should improve the KPIs & ratings
10. Scale up and build momentum
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When your KPIs are right, it is time to scale up Good retention & good ARPU
Combine multiple user acquisition channels to build momentum: Facebook, Google AdWords, Twitter Ad banners, videos App discovery channels as appChocolate’s Advent Incentivised downloads for mass market apps PR/blogs/influencers to spread by word of mouth
Case Study: Christmas Booth via Advent
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Early December
App Category: photo booth/entertainment
8 Dec: selected in Advent Calendar
- 248,000 downloads in the first 24h
- 1,291,000 downloads in December with
snowball effect
Source: iTunes Connect/AppFigures
Case Study: Christmas Booth via Advent
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8 Dec: selected in Advent Calendar
- Daily revenues 20x during the promotion
with IAP
- Daily revenues 7x bigger during the 2
weeks after the promotion
20x more daily
revenues
7x more daily revenues for 2 weeks
Source: iTunes Connect/AppFigures
Case Study: Quote of the Day as paid-for-free
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Selected in Free App Magic 30th June.
App Category: reference/lifestyle
- During promotion: 20,000 downloads
- Daily downloads +20% after the
promotion
daily downloads
+20%
Source: iTunes Connect/AppFigures
Snowball
effect +5,000
Case Study: Quote of the Day as paid-for-free
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Advent Calendar users more loyal than organic users!
- 77% used the app again on day 2 vs. 71% for organic users
- 61% used the app every day until day 7 vs. 54% on average
54%
71%77%
61%
Average daily retention rate
Organic usersDaily retention rate
Advent users
Advent
Calendar
users: 13%
more loyal
than average
users
Source: Flurry
Thank you!
Best of luck in making
your next app go BIG
Emmanuel CarraudCEO AppChocolate